Product Description

Cuba prior to the revolution: Under turbulent circumstances, the villages of the island strive for independent wealth and influence. Who can buy and sell his products and goods on the domestic market profitably or take in the most on the trading ships? Who can send the right delegate to parliament in order to influence the government legislative process, or erect distilleries, hotels and banks at the right moment to the benefit of his village?

Whoever has accumulated the most victory points at the end of the game, wins. Players earn victory points by shipping merchandise from the harbor, but also by erecting and using buildings, and by abiding by the law.

The first game I had the opportunity to play during my Essen
excursion was Cuba, the new Eggertspiele release designed by
Michael Rieneck and Stefan Stadler, the team that brought us
Pillars of the Earth. Being a fan of Pillars, I was anxious to see
what the design team had created this time.

Cuba is set in the pre-revolution days, when making money was
paramount and rum and cigars were the commodities of choice.
Players gather resources and products, convert them to goods,
and sell or ship them to earn handsome profits and gain
influence. All of this must be accomplished in spite of a frequently
aggressive yet indecisive government, which continues to change
the tax and duty requirements, and enact often troublesome
policies.

Each player receives a plantation mat with twelve fields, each
depicting a particular resource or product. One field is occupied
by a warehouse, in which players can store goods and products.
Each turn, players will have the opportunity to activate their
laborer, who will generate resources and products in the row
and column where he is located.

The unnecessarily large, yet attractive central board depicts
Havana, and includes spaces for the commodities and goods
market, ships, alternative powers, score track, and statutes. The
artwork is attractive, but quite congested and busy – just like
Havana! The twenty-five buildings are supposed to be placed
beside the board, but there are five building images printed
directly onto the board. There appears to be no reason these
are here, as there is no requirement that buildings be purchased
in a specific order. This is quite puzzling.

Each of the game’s six turns follows a rigid sequence of play:

Bills. Four proposed bills are revealed, allowing players to adapt
their plans to the potential laws the legislature may enact. Only
two of the laws will ultimately be enacted, and only the player
controlling the most votes in parliament will decide the exact
two. Two of the bills deal with taxes and duties players will be
called upon to pay, while the other two are involve subsidies and
other statutes.

Action Phase. Each player has an identical set of five character
cards bearing values of 1 - 5. Players will alternate playing cards
one-at-a-time until each player has played four cards. The
remaining fifth card will determine the player’s base vote value in
parliament.

Specific characters allow players to move their worker in their
field and collect the appropriate resources and products, activate
buildings in the row and column where their worker is located,
sell and purchase products and goods at the marketplace, ship
products and goods, and construct buildings. There are specific
alternative uses for several characters, including earning
commodities, resources, money or victory points. This phase is
where the bulk of the game occurs, and choosing the order and
type of character to play is a vital key to one’s success.

When constructing a building, a player may select any of the
twenty-five possible buildings. Each costs a specific type and
quantity of resources, and grants the owner a special ability
when activated by the foreman card. There are a wide variety of
special abilities, include the granting of extra money or victory
points, and the ability to convert resources or commodities into
money or victory points, or transform resources into commodities
or commodities into goods. Others allow the unscheduled
loading of goods onto ships, swapping the ship at sea with a
new one, exchanging resources or commodities, or even
additional votes in parliament. The buildings work in a nearly
identical fashion as those in the authors’ Pillars of the Earth.

Buildings are constructed on the player’s plantation mat, with
each building covering a resource or commodity space, effectively
reducing a player’s production options. Buildings do not convey
their power unless activated by the foreman card, which takes an
action to enact.

The idea is to assemble a powerful combination of buildings
whose abilities mesh well together. Building an efficient
economic engine is a main goal, as it will allow a player to
convert merchandise into goods and/or victory points. With two
exceptions, there is only one of each type of building, so players
must act quickly to assemble the buildings they desire. Astute
players will attempt to deny buildings to their opponents that
allow the formation of strong combinations.

Shipping commodities and goods can bring a windfall of victory
points. Each of the three ships in the docks lists five commodities
and/or goods it can hold. Playing the mayor card allows a player
to select a ship and load as many of the requested goods as
possible. Victory points ranging from 1 – 3 for each good loaded
are earned based on the dock occupied by the ship. Being the
first to load goods onto a ship usually denies opponents the
ability to occupy those slots with their goods, thereby denying or
reducing their victory points for shipping.

Parliament Phase. Each player has a base number of votes in
parliament equal to the value of their un-played character card.
To this, players may simultaneously offer a bribe, the amount
being added to their base votes. The player with the highest
total chooses which two bills to enact.

Sometimes a player may be ambivalent about the proposed bills,
so will not endeavor to be the player choosing which ones to
enact. Other times, however, a player will be keenly interested
in seeing a particular bill passed or squashed, so should plan his
turn – and offer sufficient bribes – accordingly.

Statute Phase. The effects of each of the current four laws are
implemented. Each player will have the opportunity to pay the
taxes and duties assessed. Paying just one of the two earns
two victory points, while paying both yields five victory points.
Since the possible taxes and duties are known from the
beginning of the turn, a wise player will attempt to gather the
required pesos and resources or commodities during the turn.
Five victory points are significant, and if a player is able to earn
them each turn, it results in an impressive thirty victory points
over the course of the game.

At the end of each round, players must surrender all commodities
in their possession, unless their worker was positioned in a row
or column containing a warehouse. Fully loaded ships depart for
foreign ports, with all other ships moving down one dock. The
ship at sea arrives at the top dock, and a new ship is revealed.
At the conclusion of six turns, players earn two points per
constructed building, and the player with the most cumulative
victory points rules the island. Well, at least until the Fidel
arrives on the scene!

Cuba is a “gamer’s game”, filled with lots of choices, strategic
options, and tactical decisions. It will likely take numerous
sessions before all of the viable building combinations can be
explored. Like Puerto Rico, the game is ripe for building
expansions that can help keep the game fresh and give players
even more options to investigate. At this point, however,
whether such expansions are forthcoming is purely speculative.

The influences of several games – most notably Pillars of the Earth, Caylus and Puerto Rico – are clearly evident in Cuba.
Indeed, it is difficult to find anything significantly new in the
design. It is a hybrid, combining elements of the designers’
previous collaboration with mechanisms from other titles. The
finished product is a solid design, albeit one that will likely
not “wow” its audience. Due to its similarities to the
aforementioned titles, some will undoubtedly argue that they
would rather be playing those games. Fair enough. However,
the game is different enough to provide another alternative with
a similar level of strategy and complexity. Whether one needs
another game of that ilk in their collection is a matter of choice
that some will answer in the affirmative, while others will
decline. For now, I fall on the “affirmative” side of this question.

Other Resources for Cuba:

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